La Gata

Precisely. Going behind her back to negotiate her wedding with her corrupt father whom she had previously repudiated in front of him (ZL) is something the villain of the drama would do, not the hero. The disrespect is eye popping. And that change of personality is sudden, there is no transition from his previous thoughtful, caring self.

Having said that, he's been thrown into political schemes directly from and at the top. The responsibility the emperor has laid on his shoulder would be overwhelming for a seasoned chancellor well accustomed to palace intrigues, let alone for a young, inexperienced military man. This still doesn't justify his very poor behaviour towards her.

I think it's a metaphor, she's letting him know she feels abandoned. The lamp running out of oil symbolizes how long it is since he last visited her.

Solid quality character wonderfully portrayed by Wen Zheng Rong. What a magnificent actress!

Thank you! 👍

Does anybody remember what ep is it where the FL has chunks of her hair forcefully cut off? Many thanks in advance.

If you scroll down you'll see several comments putting his absurd behaviour down to PTSD. That's fine, it's just an opinion like any other, I just happen to disagree with it.

'His character is not even portrayed as traumatised' means exactly that. While we all see him battling, getting hurt, having to cut his friends head off etc, being traumatised is not a main feature of his personality. He's hardened by war and the terrible things he had to see and do, but if anybody asks me to describe his personality, I wouldn't say traumatised. Even if he were, it still would not justify his thoughtless behaviour towards her.

It's not just that incident alone, it's everything else he said and did as I explained in my initial criticism of the character. I don't think I need to clarify I don't hate the character, he's also done plenty of good deeds and we know he loves her. Nevertheless, he behaved like a brainless idiot in ep 21. I view this as a script failure based on the fact that this wasn't a development from his previous behaviour, it was a radical change.

'I agree 100%. I just don't think it applies to this situation'.

I wasn't talking about the drama, but about the comments that stated or included precisely that 'reasoning' in order to justify his terrible behaviour, that men don't understand women and that's that, or that being a blockhead is a typically male behaviour and women should just understand it.

I am aware nobody is going to stop me from commenting. I just find it exasperating when a fruitful exchange of opinions becomes marred by polarized stances and even by lack of basic politeness. I had to block a poster who simply proceeded to insult me in a two lines post.

Anyway, thank you for your reply and input. It looks from the teasers like everything is sorted out on ep 22, so I'm going to watch it now. Keep well.

Precisely. Her mum can divorce her dishonourable husband and claim her dowry in the courts of law.

As for the chastity pillar..., unless the father becomes an actual closed order monk I don't see how they can save it. 😂 😂 😂 😂

For those who are talking about ZL hating comments. While I agree and I think we all know there are always haters in virtually all comments sections of all dramas, to me a hater is someone who just tries to shoot down a drama by using non believable and sometimes unrelated arguments or nitpicking on tiny details that don't affect the plot development.

I have scrolled down the posts on ep 21 and found no comments I would view as just hate. In fact, my comments are among the most negative about this particular episode.

Re this drama, I have posted very positive comments up to ep 20. On ep 21 I made a scathing criticism of the changes in ZL's personality and dumbing down of his character and I stand by every word I wrote. Analizing and laying down what went wrong with the script is not hating, and I find that take immature at best.

There is also a cliche that I find unsavoury, that of men not understanding women and not being able to do anything about it so women just have to accept it, but women having to understand men because otherwise they are branded as intolerant/selfish/rancorous or any other derogatory epithet in the same vein.

One thing is expecting a character to be perfect just because they are the lead, which would be unreasonable as well as boring; a very different thing is changing said character's personality from a smart, thoughtful, sensitive guy into a thick idiot with zero emotional intelligence. This is what I saw on ep 21, and no amount of alleged PTSD justifies ZL not being able to get two synapses connected. Example:

ZL to TY: "I don't want to take the concubine because, if I do, in future the salt traders might try to manipulate me again. Yeah, that's my reason not to marry her". 🙄

It's almost like ep 21 was written by somebody else, both ZL's lines and his behaviour being one act of thoughtlessness towards her after another. I don't buy the trauma excuse because his character is not even portrayed as traumatised, he just mentions he had to go through a lot and then goes about his business. If anybody perceives this is a hate comment, they need to rethink whose comment is being hateful. As for me, I will continue to state my opinion about anything that I find interesting, whether it is a positive or negative aspect. That's what this forum is for.

I hope the script will straighten itself and continue to provide the great drama this was up to ep 20, including direction, cinematography, pace and superb performances all around.

Salt fish is still a big industry today. Tons of tinned foods are preserved in brine. Boiling in salt water is a classic and delicious cooking method.

Salt was (still is) used as a food preservative and as an antiseptic. In old times salt was currency, not just in China but all over the world. For example, in Ancient Rome household slaves were given a monthly stipend in salt, which is where the word 'salary' comes from.

He needed the 16 heads to accumulate merit to get a promotion.

He didn't😂. It was an ironic remark about all the justifications and excuses for his awful behaviour because of some supposed PTSD.

Agree again. Plus, she's now well established, she can just take her mother to live with her.

Of course I know, but this is not about what the spectator knows, it's about what the character knows. In this instance all she knew was he was telling her about the concubine and how he couldn't really reject her because of the salt trade. He never said 'I'll never marry another woman because you are the only one in my heart', which is what she needed to hear.

As for future pain, I hope the storyline gives good reasons for it, one trope I cannot stand is suffering for the sake of suffering. Ep 21 doesn't bode well in that sense, but we'll see how the next ones pan out.

Send them a Mexican hat. Go on, do it. You know you want to. 😂😂😂😂

Tell me again! Ep 21 got my wound up proper, I'm not rewatching that string of absurdities again.

Indeed. Plus TY has her own household under her own register, she's a Xie now. She wouldn't need her father's permission even without the emperor's decree.

ZL having other motives is a possibility, of course, but there are already corruption charges prepared for when her shitty father finishes his mourning period. As for other people being involved, ZL only needs to make a clean break and put new people in charge of the Salt Trade Reform. In any case, he should have let her know he was going to visit her father. Then we start going in circles, she was threatening to leave because he was considering taking a concubine etc. Anyway, the teasers for the next few eps are good, including the wedding on 25.

That's certainly a new one: "I may take another woman because I have PTSD".😏

Her disowned father had held an official post in the salt trade in which he had been scamming the treasury. When he was about to be charged with corruption, his mother (the horrible grandmother) died, so he used his 'grief' as an excuse to go into seclusion and avoid/delay facing the charges. That's why they're saying his mourning period should have been 3 years but had already been 7, he's holed up because the moment he comes out he'll be arrested. He sees ZL as his out of jail card, hence asking him for an official post in the salt trade in exchange for TY's hand,

The absurdity of it all is of course that TY doesn't need his permission to get married, so ZL's visit to her father doesn't make sense to say the least.

Also the fact that he went to negotiate her wedding with her disowned father without consulting her. The whole plot in ep 21 is just is ridiculous.